Many tissue products, such as bath tissues and paper towels, are manufactured and sold as spirally wound rolls. Typically, the tissue product is wound on a tubular core that is made from a rigid paperboard material. The tubular core is useful since it allows for the product to be dispensed from a holder that is inserted through the tubular core. Bath tissue holders, for instance, typically include a spindle that extends through the hollow core. Once placed on the spindle, the bath tissue roll can be easily unwound and used by the consumer.
Once a spirally wound tissue product is exhausted or consumed, however, the consumer is left with the tubular core that is usually discarded. The tubular core thus not only increases the cost of the tissue product, but also represents waste that has an adverse environmental impact if not recycled.
In the past, those skilled in the art have suggested producing “coreless” tissue products. For instance, coreless rolls of tissue paper are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,378 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,608, which are both incorporated herein by reference. Coreless products proposed in the past, however, have had various disadvantages and drawbacks.
For example, many coreless products produced in the past require an adhesive to be applied to multiple tissue sheets around the opening in the roll. The adhesive is intended to stiffen the tissue sheets immediately near the center of the roll to prevent the product from deforming during use. Placing an adhesive on the tissue sheet, however, adversely affects the product and makes the trailing end of the tissue roll unusable. Thus, a portion of the product is typically discarded representing waste.
Another drawback to past coreless designs is that the opening formed in the product is either very small, is non-existent or is non-circular. Non-circular openings, for instance, do not rotate as easily on spindles. Products having a very small opening or no opening at all, on the other hand, require a special adaptor to dispense the product.
In view of the above, a need currently exists for an improved coreless tissue product and for a process of making the product.